Manchester United have reportedly abandoned their plans to sign the Barcelona defender and placed a bid on his Real Madrid compatriot

Manchester United are expected to spend big in the summer, mainly on their defense as Mourinho feels the squad needs a remodeling in the defence. This could be due to Pep Guardiola’s huge raid on defenders last summer which helped Manchester City to romp to the Premier League title, with Kyle Walker, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy and Ederson all arriving – with Aymeric Laporte joining in January.

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Samuel Umtiti, on the other hand, will reportedly be left with little choice but to sign a new deal at Barcelona after links to Manchester United and Manchester City turned out unsuccessful. According to Luis F. Rojo of Marca, City manager Pep Guardiola has no space in his squad for another centre-back after signing Aymeric Laporte in January, while United boss Jose Mourinho “has no great interest in signing him” despite previous reports the Red Devils could offer Umtiti a €10 million-per-season (£8.8 million) deal.

But Don Balon is now reporting that it his compatriot Varane that is now being targeted – and a bid of £53m has been made. Rojo revealed that City was suspecting that Umtiti was using them “to put pressure on Barcelona for his renewal” and that “everything indicates” he will remain at the Camp Nou. Umtiti is not a big problem for Barcelona as the 24 years old French international has enjoyed a great season, and he has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in Europe.

The revelation that his release clause is only €60 million (£53 million) prompted many of the rumours linking him with a departure. Many were left baffled as to how Barca could have allowed such a low release clause to be inserted in his contract in the first place as Umtiti has already won La Liga and two Copa del Reys despite having only moved to the club in 2016.

Amid reports of interest from elsewhere, he previously said it was his “dream” to be a Barca player. However, per Rojo, Umiti has lost any leverage with which to push his “exorbitant economic pretensions” and he can hope with the Catalan giants is a salary increase from €2 million per season net to €5 million. That is a large increase, and the idea Umtiti would be unhappy doesn’t look likely.

Author’s Take :

Barcelona have enjoyed a magnificent run La Liga and Samuel Umtiti has been a major part of their top flight. He has proved his mettle time and time again and it would have taken time to cement himself in a new setup. Barcelona need to ponder on the buyout clause as a relatively low buyout will always keep him a hot property in the transfer market. He is in a good club and performing well. He needs to continue his good run.

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